Reckless Play | ✓

43. Honesty Wave

The voice at the other end of the line wasn't the one I expected.

"Huh...hi Olivia." I lifted my gaze to meet Ryan's as I spoke. "It's Kalley. How are you?"

There was a shuffling on the background as if she was moving. "Oh, Kalley." She answered in a voice that told me I was the last thing she wanted to deal with. "Why do you call?" She ignored my question.

Ryan raised his eyebrows at me, wanting to know what was going on.

"Is dad there?"

She hesitated for a bit and I could imagine her weighing whether to tell me the truth or not. "Yes." She finally admitted. "He is in his study. Do you want to speak with him?"

I lifted my eyes to the ceiling. Why would I call if it wasn't to speak with my father? "Yeah. Can you hand the phone over to him?" I replied, adding a please at the end to ensure she wouldn't hang up on me.

There was a brief pause, then her voice came through the line. "I'll let him know you are on the line."

"Okay."

I heard her footsteps as she moved around the house and waited patiently, the hand clasping the phone was getting clammy so I shifted it to my other ear and wiped my palm nervously on my jeans.

"So?" Ryan whispered.

"She went to fetch him." I replied, a bit incredulous. I still couldn't believe she told me the truth about my father's whereabouts.

Ryan smiled and threw me a wink. "You've got this."

I smiled faintly.

"Kalley?" Dad's voice came through the line.

My mind snapped to attention. "Hi dad."

"Hi, honey. How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm not interrupting you, am I?" I wondered.

"No. I was waiting for your call." He replied. "Your mum told you I called right?"

"Yeah, yesterday."

"Oh."

I could imagine him wondering why I haven't called him before.

"Do you have time to talk?" I asked hesitantly.

Most of our calls lasted ten minutes at most, but I had a feeling we would need more than that.

My question seemed to catch him off guard. "Sure. I always have time for you honey. What do you want to talk about? Is it school?" His seemed so happy I was willing to share something with him it made me feel guilty for being so closed on our previous conversations.

"Yeah, I just...wanted to tell you a bit of everything."

"Ok. Sure. I'm listening." He hesitated for a bit? "Uh, honey you aren't going to ask my opinion about certain things kids your age do right? Because I think maybe your mother will know how to approach that talk better tha--"

I laughed at his sudden discomfort. "No, no. It's not about that. Promise."

"Oh, Ok." He seemed to relax. "Then tell me what's bothering you."

Ryan gave my hand and squeeze and I took strange from that, "I'm at home with Ryan." I started with the easiest part.

"Is your mother there with you?" He immediately asked.

I held back a laugh. Of course his mind would go there. "She is downstairs but she asked me to keep the door open."

"Good." Was his reply. "Does he treat you well honey?"